The Hula Valley is part of the Jordan Rift Valley and is the source of the Jordan River which flows southwards to the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee). When Jewish settlers arrived in the area, it was swampland, plagued by mosquitoes and disease and useless for agriculture, so in the 1950s the land was drained. This proved to be disastrous for the ecology of the area and after protests from Israeli scientists and conservationists, some of the land was re-flooded. In 1964, Lake Hula and the surrounding swampland became the first nature reserve in Israel.